By Dan Banks

Connect Tech is a designer and manufacturer of computer interface products for the global market. The company has grown and expanded over the last 32 years but never compromises on its commitment to excellence in both product design and customer satisfaction.

Since 1985, Connect Tech has provided the globe with high-quality, cost-effective connectivity solutions. As a hardware design and manufacturing company that is committed to excellence in both product design and customer satisfaction, Connect Tech continues to build on a reputation for manufacturing high-performance rugged, small form factor solutions. Products support a wide variety of industry standards including COM Express®, SMARC, Qseven, 3U VPX, and PC/104. Peripheral solutions include Managed Gigabit and 10G Ethernet switches, NVIDIA® GPU solutions, Digital & Analog I/O, CAN Controllers, Multi-Port Serial, FPGA, Adapters, and Power Supplies. Connect Tech has a nimble engineering team ready to engage in Custom Design when “off-the-shelf” is not an option. The company’s specialty is providing “exact fit” solutions for a wide range of industries.

“It is Connect Tech’s goal to continue this tradition in the future development of innovative communication solutions and to exceed the expectations of all customers that we come into contact with,” said David J. Worthen, P.Eng. & President. “With more than 30 years of experience, the innovative spirit is still strong, ensuring Connect Tech maintains its well-earned reputation for delivering reliable, high-quality products that are backed with top-rated customer support and warranty.”

This mandate of providing adaptive, cost-effective solutions is built on Connect Tech’s expertise in the design and manufacture of embedded technology hardware. Yet innovative design is only part of the Connect Tech solution. The company is driven by the belief that customer satisfaction is as important as quality product. Connect Tech strives to build solid relationships with customers by providing superior support, the best warranty in the industry and working in partnership with customers to ensure individual communication requirements are met. Its commitment is to customer satisfaction through fair and ethical relationships with its customers, suppliers and employees.

OEM/ODM, system integrators, engineers, researchers, and VARs worldwide choose Connect Tech’s communications products based on performance, flexibility, quality and reliability. Versatility ensures that its products are suited to a varied range of industries, including communications, industrial automation, transportation, government, military and defense, scientific, medical, educational, and automation.

Because quality and variety are important to Connect Tech and its customers, it is crucial that the team work with the best partners. When it came time to upgrade its production floor in 2013, Connect Tech contacted Juki Automation Systems and ran a simulation of most of its products to determine which feeder capacity would best fit its needs, and how competing machines could fit into that. “Juki did very well here, being able to run the majority of our then-current product on one placement machine,” said Worthen. “As our product line grew to be more complex we added the second machine to increase speed and capacity. On our initial demo, the software was easy to use and understand.”

Connect Tech purchased Juki equipment for both of its lines because it provided numerous benefits including advanced machine capabilities and quality, as well as longevity, easy-to-use software and high levels of support.

In addition to the successful product simulation, Connect Tech chose Juki over competing companies for other reasons, including high levels of support, machine quality, price point, easy-to-use software and evidence of long machine life. Based on customer references as well as firsthand experience, the company visited a location that ran three generations of Juki placement machines daily, using the same feeders/software. Additionally, Juki offered a more comprehensive and longer warranty than its competitors, and its machine capabilities were advanced enough to meet Connect Tech’s needs. “We wanted a balance of speed, feeder capacity and changeover speed,” said Worthen. Juki exceeded the company’s expectations, so Connect Tech purchased a Juki GKG GL stencil printer, Juki KE2070 placement machine and Juki KE1080 placement machine. Worthen added that Juki commits significant time for training and machine bring up upon purchase, replacement parts ship quickly under the warranty, and the company responds quickly to questions.

Connect Tech expanded to a second line at the end of 2016, and purchased more equipment from Juki including KE3010 and KE3020 placement machines. Additionally, Connect Tech purchased a Juki CUBE Selective Soldering Machine.

Connect Tech’s original line has been in operation every day since it was purchased more than four years ago, and it has allowed the company to significantly expand its product line, as well as prototype quickly and meet fast-turn requirements from customers. Additionally, as a result of bringing assembly in-house, the company has been able to successfully bid on jobs with shorter deadlines than it could before.

Bringing assembly in-house, with the help of Juki’s technologies, has allowed Connect Tech expand its product line, prototype quickly and meet fast-turn requirements.

The addition of Connect Tech’s second line allows the company to better serve its customers with shorter lead times not only on new products and prototypes but also on standard product that it now can run in larger volumes and have available to ship. An unexpected benefit is the growth of its custom product business. “By combining the growth of our design team with our own assembly capabilities, we have become an attractive option,” Worthen said. The company’s goal is to ensure it has as many solutions as customers have connectivity requirements. Therefore, Connect Tech offers a variety of solutions. However, if a customer cannot find something to meet a specific application requirement, the company’s in-house team of engineers can develop a custom solution.

“Connect Tech has been greatly aided by bringing SMT assembly in-house, and we selected Juki to be a part of that,” concluded Worthen. “The process has allowed us to greatly improve our flexibility, time to market with new products and standard lead times.”